In another new, annual article (last week’s Review of the Cork Talk Wine Events of the Year was the first) it’s my intention here to honour those who have made, and are making, a significant, beneficial impact on the world of Spanish wine.
And, once again, I’m setting myself a difficult task. The Spanish Wine World is just about as dynamic as can be therefore there are many prime movers to consider, in terms of individuals and institutions, and in terms of now, and in the future. This year I’m keeping it to just three, though this is mostly because of space restrictions – there should be more people/institutions honoured!
I’m not a great fan of statistics. Like beauty, they are really in the eye of the beholder. So I can’t quote how many bottles of Cava have been sold over the Christmas celebratory period. I know, though, that it will be in the millions! And it’s Cava that is the raison d’etre of one of my ‘Wine People of the Year 2015’ – Señor Pere Bonet, President of the Consejo Regulador DO Cava.
Readers may remember when I interviewed Señor Bonet for Cork Talk in 2014. I’d been invited to visit one of the leading Cava producers, Segura Viudas, whose Baronial walls date back to the 11th Century, but where cava making is 21st Century cutting edge. The invitation was one of the first moves in a practical and PR riposte to adverse criticism that DO Cava was being subjected to at the time – Like Star Wars, the Empire was striking back! And the force was certainly with my host.
